Electric timepiece



Aug. 14, 1934. Q K 1,969,876

ELECTRIC TIMEPIECE Filed March 12, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l Ill 1 2 gjQ/MWQ 75 TOR Jze flex 2 00i A MZW 2' A TTORNE V5 Aug. 14, 1934. s Q CQ QK A 1,969,876

ELECTRIC TIMEPIECE Filed March 12, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Z 5 6. .6 BY 63/0 6g \A TTORNE VS Patented Aug. 14, 1934 1,969,876

1,969,876 ELECTRIC TIMEPIECE' Stephen C. Cook, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Ph1nney-,Walker 00., Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 12, 1932, Serial No. 598,408

6 Claims. (Cl. 18540) This invention relates to electric timepieces Further objects and advantages of this inand more particularly to the mechanism for efvention will appear from the following descripfecting repeated partial rewinding of the driving tion thereof taken in connection with the attached p drawings which illustrate a preferred form or g Electric clocks have heretofore been provided embodiment thereof and in which: 60 with magnetically operated devices for maintain- Figure 1 is an enlarged plan View: taken from ing the drivingspring in the proper wound-pothe rear of a watch.

sition. Suitable armatures mounted adjacent the Figure 2 is a side elevation of the watch shown magnets were provided with contact mechanism in Figure 1 with parts broken away."

i make a d break the current automatically Figure 3 is a detail planlview of'the contact but it has been found that the apparatus was mechanism showing the electric contacts in the not sufficiently reliable and uniform to satisfy closed position. V the requirements of clockwork or on the other Figure; is a detail plan viewsimilar to that hand, the apparatus was so large and diificult shown in Figure 3 with the parts inadvanced 15- to make as to be impractical and not at all position to show further details of construction. ui l f r an el tri wa h. Figure 5 is a detail plan view of the contact In the present invention I have provided a breaking lever.

mp fi n t me hani m whi h will p ra Figure 6 is avertical section taken substantially continuously and l r y v r a l n p rio f through the center of the armature to show de- '2( time and which is simple to manufacture and t ils of the ontaot'mechanism.

assemble a may be made Smelleheugh f Figure 7 is a plan view of the contact cam. application to a Watch Such as used on ll The electric watch shown in Figure 1 which is bileS example and'whieh y be e z d illustrative of one form of construction prefery Voltage Current Sources as are Commonly ably comprises two separate parts, the clockwork 25. available on automobiles. mechanism A and the electric winding n'i'e'chaone O the principal bj t of t invention nism B. I The clockwork mechanism A which may therefore is to provide animproved contact mechb a, ta dard watch movement if desired, in i m f an electric w c h vi g a periodically cludes a frame 10 having the usual escapement. 11 energized armature which causes a self-cleaning d power wh el 12 which drives a typical gear "3.0 effect On the Contact su a 130 the t v train to operate and turn the hands in the usual 45 as for example in rear view mirror watch com- The motor Winding apparatus B includes a movement between the armature and the contact and; 11 known manner, As i1lustrg tted; the P the t t being m l on Point vand clockwork is enlarged to show the details of the p y broken'et another p i t re 'preve e winding mechanism, it being understood that the ing'sparkingendinsuring instantaneous i apparatus maynormallybe of the size of a small 35 ,,Another object of the invention is-to. provide watch or of any size a desir d. The framelo a quick break mechanism for an electric watch is provided w t u t m posts 13 t Whichla Contact c rcu t i w i h a Separately powered suitable cap or enclosure (not shown) may be selever acts to break the points at high speed to cured. The clockwork mechanism Ahas the usual reduce arc g 170 a in m spiral coil spring removed and as'will hereinafter .40 Another object'of this invention is to provide be described, a substitute spring 14 is used to enan electrical rewinding apparatus for a swatch ergize the power Wheel 12 Operating the escapewhich is compact" inexpensive .constliuctlon ment 11 and furnishingat all'times the required and. positive in operation and which W111" not power to operate the timepiece uniformly. and

interfere with any particular use of theawatch continuously binations fOl'll'lGtOl vehicles. 7 c a a 4. 0 me pairv of electrical solenoids 15 wh1ch are pref r- Another Oblecb of thls invention 15 to pr v ably mounted in alignment with an armature 16 an electric .rewinding apparatus for a spring en- H a ergized watch which may be confined within the between el The solenoids 1o ha h a mate 50? normal outline of the watch and with a -relapoles 18 to in r se he magnetic action on the tively shallow depth and which will maintain armature are r d by a su table U the watch spring in .the wound-position with a shaped bracket 17 which is appropriately seof ower. re uired and without objeccured .to the'back of the watch casing A. Upon mmlmum p i Q q d energization ofthe solenoids 15: the

t' ableefiect on the 'continued'running .ofthe contactan 55 watch; armature-l6. will be oscillated in the field" of the poles in the well known manner to rewind the spring 14 to its original tension.

The armature 16 carries a mutilated gear segment 24 having a spring arm 25 connected to the spring 14 acting as a direct source of power to rotate the gear portion 26 of the segment. The gear portion 26 is in geared relation with the spur gear 28 freely mounted on an independent shaft which contains the power wheel 12 which is adapted to rotate the gear train. The spur gear 28 is mounted in fixed relation to the operating lever 29 which in turn carries a pawl 30 operating on the ratchet gear 32, the ratchet gear being secured to the driving shaft 34 on which the work gear 12 is mounted.

As the armature rotates clockwise in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 1, the mutilated gear rotates the spur gear and lever'arm so that the work gear 12 operates in a counter-clockwise direction. Under normal circumstances the spring 14 energizes the mutilated gear in the clockwise direction to bring about the normal operating condition of the clock. If, however, the contacts close, energizing the solenoid, the armature will be rapidly rotated in a counter-clockwise direction as the armature is normallyout of the pole pieces of the magnet as is well known and such movement will cause the pawl 30 to slip on the ratchet gear 32 without effecting the operation of the work gear 12. This movement will be counter to the work movement of the spring 14 and will take up the movement of theratchet gear which will finally hold the spring in the extended position to further energize the clock work movement for an additional period.

The contact mechanism embraced in the electric circuit includes a spring arm 20 having a contact point 21 on the end thereof which cooperates with cam 19 having a contact face 22 which is carried by the armature. The contact surface 22 of the cam is more particularly shown in Figures 3, 4, and 7. This cam shaped contact surface 22 is in position to be contacted by the movable contact 21 but it also movesthe contact point 21 under certain conditions. I Primarily, however, the electric contact is made to close the circuit energizing the solenoids 15, which in turn operate the armature 16. Under proper winding conditions, the cam will assist to break the circuit without arcing.

As more particularly shown in Figures 3 to '7 inclusive, the contact surface 22 on the cam is of irregular shape and has points of different radius,

the surface from 36 to 38 being of constant radius from the center 19?) of the armature shaft, and

the portion from 36 to 3'7 being fiat and of constantly increasing radius. The cam'surface from 37 to the end of the cam 39 is also flat, but at a less rapidly increasing radius from the center point.

As particularly shown in Figure 3, the contact point 21 is forced into contact with the cam surface 22 by the inherent resilience of the spring arm 20. At the particular point of contact the mutilated gear 26 is at substantially the furthest unwound position with respect to the spur gear 28 which condition exists when the spring is suitably unwound. The armature is connected to become energized however, and as such energization occurs the armature is moved to rewind the spring. The contact 21 is at a point corresponding to the point38 on the cam surface 22 as is more particularly identified in Figure 7. In such condition the spring 14 which runs from the spring the spring arm 20 is flexed the difference between the respective radii. Such movement permits the catch lever 48 to operate, the lever 48 being carried on a suitable bracket 49 mounted on the watch frame 10.

- The catch lever 48 is provided with a projecting catch 40 and the contact arm 20 is provided with a pin 42 which cooperates with the catch in such a manner that as the contact point 21 is forced away from the center 1912 of the armature bythe cam surface-existing between the points 36 and 37 on the cam 19, the catch 40 will snap over the contact pin 42 and Will hold the contact point 21 out of contact with the cam surface 22. The-spring 44 cooperates with the catch lever 48 to exert sufficient force to snap the contact apart at the proper interval.

In the unwinding of the spring14, the armature 16 rotates in aclockwise direction and the cam 19 moves to the left as more particularly shown in Figure 5. The cam has a lever releasing pin 46 which contacts with the catch lever 48 and after sufiicient movement the contact pin 42 is released from the catch 40 as more particularly shown in Figure 3 to permit a snap contact between the contact point 21 and the cam surface 22.; The catch 40 is provided with a sharp undercut surface to promote this effect. As more particularly shown in Figure l, the cam '19 is secured by suitable pins 19a to the armature 16, and the armature 16 is pinned to a central bushing 47, as shown in Fig. 6, which in turn is pinned to the mutilated gear segment 26 carrying the lever releasing pin 46 and carrying the spring cam 25. The contact 20 is appropriately placed with respect to the pin 42' to be held out of contact by the latch 40 when desired. The magnets 15 are suitably wired and as shown a grounded return is preferably but not necessarily used. The wire 7 may thus be attached to the metal support or frame A andthe circuit will thus gothrough the cam 19, contact surface '22, contact point 21, contact supporting arm 20 and thence by the wires 8 to the respective-magnets 15. The final wire 9 will then complete the circuit. I

In operation, the clock being in the wound position will run under force of the spring 14 until suificient time elapses so that the armature reaches a substantially unwound position, such as shown in Figure 3, at which time the latch controlling lever is releasedjto bring about a contact between the contact point andthe cam surfacewhich simultaneously energizes the solenoids and begins a rotation of the armature. This movement at first exerts a wiping action of the contact thus keeping the contacts clean-and subsequently the cam surface forces the contact into such a position that it can be released by the wedging effect of the lever arm. This breaking of the contact is brought about very rapidly due to the tension on the latch lever and the shape of the cam surface of the latch. The contact is thus made at onepoint on the cam'surfalce, is broken at another point, and the contact surface is continuously wiped and maintained in a suitable condition to afford a good electrical contact. The action is extremely rapid and takes place without affecting the normal clock movement.

The size of the spring 14 can be such that the contact is only made and broken once in a period of several minutes or it may be made so that it will only operate once in a period of several hours. Considering the usual source of current on an automobile, however, which is usually a six volt battery, and considering the clock mechanism it is usually preferable to provide for reenergization of the spring once every two or three minutes. The motion is noiseless, and is imperceptible and such arrangement requires but a small current to bring about effective results. Furthermore, the parts may be made sufiiciently small so that an unusually accurate watch can be made while it is obvious that the same structure could be used in an enlarged size of clock if desired. With such construction it is possible to use standard watch movements by merely removing the usual mainspring and simply attaching the winding mechanism to the back of the clock. There are no parts to wear out or break and the operation of the watch is regular.

While I have shown a preferred form of embodiment of my device I am aware that other modifications may be made therein and I therefore consider the present embodiments as illustrative rather than limitive of my invention and I therefore desire a broad interpretation of my invention within the scope and spirit of the disclosure herein and of the claims appended hereinafter.

I claim:

1. A winding control for timepieces which comprises a magnet, an armature operated thereby, means to wind the mainspring by movement of said armature, a cam carried by said armature and forming one contact, a second contact, means to hold said second contact, out of position away from said cam in the normally wound position, said cam releasing said holding means when said armature reaches a partially unwound position,

means to close a' contact between said contact and said cam, said means breaking said contact at a different point on the said cam when said armature reaches a substantially wound position.

2. A winding control for an electrically wound spring driven timepiece having a periodically oscillated armature to maintain the spring tension within desiredlimitswhich comprisesa cam shaped contact surface carried by said armature, a second contact normally urged toward said cam contact, means on said cam to partially deflect said second contact, means to wedge said second contact away from said cam surface, andmeans carried by said cam to release said wedge.

3. A winding control for an electrically wound spring driven timepiece having an armature periodically oscillated to maintain the spring tension within desired limits, which comprises a cam carried by said armature and having a contact surface thereon, said cam surface including a portion of constant radius and a portion of rapidly increasing radius, a spring contact normally urged towards said cam contact, the part of said cam having a portion of rapidly increasing radius extending materially beyond other parts of said cam whereby said spring contact is deflected, and a lever arm carrying a latch member, said latch member forcing said spring contact out of contact after said contact has been partially displaced, and means carried by said cam contact for releasing said lever when said spring is wound.

4. A winding control for an electrically wound spring driven timepiece having an armature periodically oscillated to maintain the spring tension within desired limits, which comprises a cam carried by said armature and having a contact surface thereon, a spring contact normally urged towards said cam contact, a part of said cam extending materially beyond other parts of said cam whereby said spring contact is deflected, and a lever arm carrying a catch member, said catch member forcing said spring contact out of contact after said contact has been partially displaced, means to bring about a snap contact of said spring contact arm on said cam, means to wipe said spring contact with respect to said cam surface to maintain an electrically clean contact, means to partially displace said spring contact by the surface of increasing radius, and means to force a wedge between said cam and said contact to break that circuit.

5. A winding control for an electrically wound spring driven timepiece having a periodically oscillated armature to maintain the spring tension within desired limits which comprises, aplurality of contacts, one of said contacts being cam shaped having a cam surface of increasing radius with respect to the other contact, the other contact havinga surface acting as a cam follower, said armature wiping one of said contacts in closed circuit relation on the other contact during substantially the entire period of movement of the armature, said wiping movement, moving one of said contacts transverse to the wiping movement, a pivoted lever, a latch element on said lever, said lever being juxtaposed with respect to the movable contact so that the latch element will engage the contact in its transverse movement to break the circuit, and means to trip the lever to close. the circuit at a different point.

6. An electric wound spring drive clock of the class described including a main driving shaft, an oscillating armature and a ratchet drive between said armature and said drive shaft, a spring normally rotating said armature to drive said shaft and an electric circuit to re-energize said spring and maintain its tension within desired limits, said electric circuit including a plurality of contacts, one of said contacts moving in an arc with the armature center as an approximate center and the other contact moving in a path toward and away from said center, one of said contacts having a cam. face whereby movement of said contact in one path will cause a movement of the other contact in the other path, a lever having a wedge latch thereon engageable with the contact movable in the path toward and away from the armature center when partially displaced by the other contact to break circuit, said lever being engaged by a projecting portion of the arcuately. moving contact to release the other contact to release the circuit at a different point on the surface of the cam shaped contact.

STEPHEN C. COOK. 

